Machine for inserting fastenings.



W. PRATT & G. PEGG.

MACHINE FOR INSERTING FASTENINGS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 26, 1909.

1,07,066. Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

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srars ra'rn vr WILLIAM PRATT AND GERALD PEGG, 0F LEICESTER, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS TO UNITED SHOE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPO- RATION OF NEW JERSEY.

MACHINE FOR INSERTING FASTENINGS.

Application filed June 26, 1909.

To all whom 2'25 may concern Be it known that we, VVILLIAM PRATT and GERALD Pnce, subjects of the King of England, residing at Leicester, in the county of Leicester, England, have invented certain Improvements in Machines for Inserting Fastenings, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like reference characters on the drawings indicating like parts in the several figures.

An object of this invention is to provide improved guiding and separating means which are especially adapted for delivering fastenings to the inserting mechanisms in machines for inserting previously formed fastenings, although it will be obvious that such means may also be used to advantage in other connections.

More particularly, the invention aims to improve the construction and operation of machines of the type known as loose nailers whereby such machines may be fitted for use with nails of peculiar or special shapes, such as nails used for ornamenting the soles or heels of boots and shoes.

When it has been attempted to use the ordinary loose nailing machine to drive nails which are oblong or rectangular in crosssection and which have heads the dimensions of which lie parallel to those of the crosssection of the shank, difficulty has been experienced in separating the endmost nail from the others in the line in the raceway and delivering it to the inserting mechanism, particularly when the heads of the nails are not much larger than the shanks, so that the shanks lie very close together, and when the nails are comparatively short.

Various attempts have been made to overcome the difliculties encountered in separating and delivering such nails to the inserting mechanism of a loose nailing machine. in one construction the separating has been effected by moving bodily sidewise what is in effect a small section of the raceway. It has been found, however, that this mode of Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented A11 12,1913.

Serial No. 504,588.

separating is satisfactory only in those machines in which the raceway extends transversely to the line of feed of the work, since it is usually desirable that the fastenings be inserted with the greatest dimension in cross-section lying crosswise to the edge of the work. In high speed loose nailing machines however, the raceways have been arranged so that they extend substantially parallel to the line of feed of the work in order that a raceway sufficiently long to supply nails to the inserting mechanism may be provided and, further, in order that the raceway may not interfere with the other mechanisms.

Since it is substantially requisite that rectangular or oblong nails or other fastenings be guided in the raceway with their longer transverse dimensions extending lengthwise of the raceway, it is necessary in separating a fastening from the line in the raceway, either by the means just described or by the ordinary means, to effect a subsequent partial rotation of the fastening as it is delivered to the inserting mecha nism' in order to bring its longer dimension in cross-section into a position in which it will extend at right angles to the edge of the work.

A further object of the invention therefore is so to improve the guiding and separating means in a loose nailing machine that a long raceway mounted at one side of the inserting mechanism may be employed, and that nevertheless the nail or other fastening may be delivered to the inserting arator. Conveniently the raceway is curved to such an extent as not only to produce the gap aforesaid but in addition to aline the nail with the path of the separator in order that the latter may impel the nail in the direction of its motion. By thus curving the raceway sideways it is possible not only to aline the endmost nail with the path of the separator but also to insure that the nails by bearing against the opposite sides of the raceway throughout their traverse of the curve shall be constantly under control whereby they can be delivered into a desired position with certainty and precision.

The nail or other fastening as it is sep* arated from the others in the raceway may be pushed by the separator directly into the path of the driver or, as in the preferred embodiment of the invention, it may be carried into the driving position by a transferrer into which it is pushed by the separator. An important feature of the invention, therefore, is nail delivering mechanism comprising means to impel a rectangular or oblong nail or other fastening from a raceway or other guiding means into a receiver, preferably yieldingly contracted, which preferably grips the nail and transfers it to the driving position.

The invention also comprises an improved nail transferring device. This device is provided with a pivoted or other yielding part which not only guides and grips a nail while it is being driven but yields sufliciently to permit the transferrer to be moved toward its nail receiving position without waiting for the withdrawal of the driver.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described with the aid of the accompanying drawings, but it is to be understood that the invention is not necessarily limited to the precise c'onstruction and arrangement of parts as shown, as this embodiment of the invention is merely by way of example and is capable of considerable variation without departing from the nature of the invention.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of those parts of a nailing machine embodying the invention with which the invention is immediately associated; Fig. 2 is a plan with parts in section of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan drawn to a larger scale than F 1 and 2 of the end portion of the nail raceway and certain parts cooperating therewith; Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showing the said parts in a different operative position; Fig. 5 is a view of the end of the separator lever, and Fig. 6 is a perspec tive view of a nail which the mechanism of this invention is especially adapted to handle.

The machine to which this invention is applied may conveniently be of the type disclosed in the United States Patent to L. Goddu, 490,624, January 24, 1898, the awl l ar 2 carrying the awl 4, the driver bar 6 carrying the driver 8 and the separator lever 10 being operated by the means and in sub stantially the manner disclosed in said patent.

The machine illustrated in the drawings includes a raceway 12 into which the nails are fed from any suitable hopper or other suitable fastening container and down which they travel to the nail separating mechanism. This mechanism comprises a push off piece or separator 14 carried by the separator lever 10 and arranged to push the nail into a recess or slot 16 in a carrier or transferrer 18 by which it is transferred into a position from which it is driven by the driver 8 through the throat of the machine into the work. According to this embodiment of the invention the nail raceway 12, instead of being straight throughout its length, as has been the ordinary construction, terminates in a bent portion 20 so that the lowermost nail will be turned axially through an angle of approximately 90 be fore being engaged by the push off piece or separator 14 and moved into the recess 10 in the carrier or transferrer 18. By thus turning the endmost nail in the raceway relatively to the next succeeding nail a gap is produced between the said nails for the entry of the separator, and in the construction illi'istmtecl this position of the parts is such that the endmost nail is alined with the path of the separator and is impelled by the separator in the direction of that path. By this arrangement the separation of a single nail from its companions in the raceway is insured, and the nail is guided accurately along the raceway and is delivered with certainty therefrom into the recess 16 in the transferrer 18.

From the foregoing it will be noted that an oblong nail, like that illustrated in Fig. 6, which enters the raceway with its shorter transverse dimension crosswise tothe direc- "tion of movement is turned axially through right angle before being delivered into driving position so that it can be driven into the stock with its longer transverse dimension crosswise to the margin of the sole which is fed in a direction parallel to the line of travel of the nails in the main portion of the raceway. The push off piece or separator 14 and the end of the lever 10 to which it attached are illustrated in detail in Fig. :3.

The carrier or transferrer 18 forms part of a cylindrical slide 22 that is adapted to slide within a bearing 24 secured to the side of the raceway 12. The slide 22 is provided with a shoulder 26 against which one end of a spring 28 abuts, said spring surroui'iding the slide. The other end of the spring 28 Cir bea rs against a collar formed in the bearing 24. The slide 22 is thus forced outwardly from the bearing by the spring 28, the extent of movement being adjustable by lock nuts 32 and 34 held against the end of the bearing and screwed upon the'end of the slide 22 which projectsbeyond the collar 30 of the bearing. This adjustment of the traverse of the slide 22 provides for adjust ment of the position to which the carrier 18 is moved for the purpose of enabling the recess 16 in the carrier to be brought into proper alinement with the driver 8 to enable the nail to be driven. The nail transferrer 18 is operated so as to pull back against the action of the spring 28 to bring it into its nail receiving position by a pendent lever 36 which is pivoted at 38 upon the head 40 of the machine and which receives motion from a tappet roll 42 carried upon the awl bar 2. The pendent lever 36 comprises an extension piece 44 that acts on the nail transferrer 18.

Means for adjustment between the lever 36 and the transferr'er 18 is provided for the purpose of insuring that the transferrer shall be returned into correct position to receive the nails from the raceway. This adjustment can be obtained if desired, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

which the extension piece is formed integrally with the lever 36 and engages a circular block 46 which is eccentrically mounted upon the transferrer 18 and may therefore be turned to vary the position of the transferrer with relation to the lever 36.

The pendent lever 36 is operated by the vertical movement of the tappet roll 42 on the awl bar 2 through a projecting part 48 of the pendent lever 36, the said part being provided with a surface that is engaged by the tappet roll. The aperture or recess 16 in the nail transferrer 18 preferably con forms to the shape of the nail, and one side of this recess-the one nearer the driver 8-is constituted by a hinged flap 50 that is pivoted upon the carrier. This flap is normally held shut by means of a coiled spring that surrounds the pivot upon which the flap is pivoted and has one end engaging the flap and the other acting against the transferrer. This arrangement of the hinged flap insures that when. the nail is pushed into the recess 16 the nail will be held with a yielding grip by the hinged flap, and thus retained while being transferred into alinement with the nail driver 8 where it will be driven by said driver through the ordinary nail throat into the work. The spring flap 50 also enables the nail transferrer 18 to be returned immediately to its nail receiving position by the pendent lever 36 without waiting for the driver to be withdrawn, as when the transferrer is moved the hinged 'fiap will be turned outwardly against its spring, see Fig. 4, and thus ride over the driver 8 and permit the transferrer to move.

In Fig. 6 is shown in perspective a type of nail which this invention is especially adapted to handle. This type of nail is used quite generally in England for the purpose hereinabove pointed out and is there known as the Cutlan bill nail from the name of its inventor, the term bill nail being applied to short, stumpy nails of this type.

The operation of the embodiment of the invention hereinabove described will be understood from the foregoing description of the parts and their method of acting, but

for the sake of clearness may be briefly recapitulated as follows: The nails travel down the raceway 12 and the lowermost one passes around the bent portion 20 there of so as to turn through approximately a right angle when it is engaged by the push off piece 14 by which it is pushed along the raceway into the recess 16 in the carrier or transferrer 18. In the recess the nail is held by the spring-pressed flap 50. By the lift ing of the awl bar 2 the tappet roll 42 is removed from contact with the part 48 of .the lever 36, thereby permitting the transferrer spring 28 to move the transferrer 18 to bring the nail into the nail throat and beneath the driver 8 which then operates to drive it into the work. The next descent of the awl bar 2 causes the return of the transferrer 18 to its initial position ready for the reception of the next nail, by the action of the part 48 upon the tappet roll 42.

In the foregoing description and in the following claims the raceway is referred to as parallel to the line of feed of the work.

In this expression, as well as in other expressions herein in which the term par allel is used, parallelism of the vertical planes of location rather than actual line parallelism is intended.

Having described our mventlon, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters .Patent of the United States is z 1. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, fastening inserting mechanism, a continuous fastening raceway extending substantially parallel to the direction of feed of the work past said inserting mechanism but having at its lower end a section extending substantially transverse to the direction of feed of the work, whereby the fastenings are each turned through an angle of 90 and means for delivering a fastening from said raceway to said inserting mechanism constructed to transfer said fastening first along said raceway section and then along the path of feed of the work while maintaining it in axial parallelism.

2. A machine of the class described,

having, in combination, mechanism for inserting fastenings which are rectangular in cross-section, a raceway arranged to conduct the fastenings in a line with their transverse dimensions at right angles to the desired inserting position and constructed to turn each fastening about its longitudinal axis through an angle of substantially 90 be fore its delivery to the inserting mechanism, and means for delivering the endmost fastening to the inserting mechanism arranged to enter the gap between the endmost two fastenings caused by the aXial turning of said endmost fastening.

8. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, mechanism for inserting fastenings, a raceway and a separator arranged to move transversely to the main portion of said raceway, said raceway comprising a portion at its delivery end so curved as to cause contiguous fastenings to so move about their own longitudinal axes as to produce a gap between them for the entry of said separator and so constructed and arranged as not only to produce the gap aforesaid but in addition to aline the fastening to be separated with the path of the separator and to maintain said fastening with its transverse dimensions at right angles to their position in the main part of the raceway, and means for operating said separator to cause it to propel the fastening along its path of movement in axial parallelism with the other fastenings in the raceway.

4. In a machine of the class described, a raceway for fastenings of oblong cross-section having at the forward end a section curved sidewise and so constructed that the fastenings bear against opposite sides of the raceway in the traverse of the curve whereby they are turned about their longitudinal axes to produce a gap between the endmost two fastenings in the raceway for the entry of a separator, and a separator arranged to enter the gap and propel the endmost fasten ing bodily along the raceway in the direction of movement of said separator, the fastenings being free to gravitate down said raceway into fastening delivering position.

5. In a machine of the class described, a reciprocating fastening transferrer, a raceway the general direction of which corresponds to that in which reciprocation of the transferrer takes place, said raceway being curved sidewise in proximity to said transferrer and a. separator the path of which is tangential to said curve and transverse to the direction of movement of said transferrer.

6. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, mechanism for inserting fastenings, a raceway presenting the nails in a plane substantially parallel to the path of feed of the work past said inserting mechanism, but laterally offset from said path, a fastening transferrer having a transferring movement parallel to said plane and in the line of the work feed, and means for pushing the endmost fastening of those in the line in said raceway into said transferrer.

7. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, inserting mechanism, a raceway curved at its delivery end, a transferrer for transferring the endmost fastening in the raceway to the inserting mecha nism, and means for pushing said fastening into said transferrer, said transferrer being constructed and arranged to close the end of said raceway during its fastening transferring operation.

8. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, fastening inserting mechanism comprising a fastening driver, an awl and an awl bar, a raceway and a transferrer for transferring a fastening from the raceway to the inserting mechanism, said transferrer being constructed to hold the fastening in driving position during the inserting operation, and means controlled by the awl bar during the work pene trating movement of the awl for returning said transferrer toward fastening receiving position, said transferrer having provision whereby it may be returned toward fastening receiving position after the fastening has been driven and before the driver is raised.

9. A machine of the class described, hav ing, in combination, fastening inserting mechanism comprising a driver, an awl and an awl bar, a raceway and a transferrer arranged to transfer a fastening from the raceway to the inserting mechanism, and means controlled by the awl bar during the work penetrating movement of the awl for returning said transferrer toward fastening receiving position, said transferrer being provided with a yielding part which grips and guides the fastening during the inserting operation and permits the transferrer to be returned to fastening receiving position after the fastening has been driven and before the driver is raised.

10. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a raceway, an awl, an awl bar and a driver, said awl operating to feed the work into position to receive a fastening driven by said driver, and means controlled by the awl bar as the awl is withdrawn from the work for transferring the fastening from the raceway to said driver.

11. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a reciprocating fastening transferrer yieldingly pressed normally in the fastening delivering direction, an awl and awl bar and means operated from said awl bar during its awl driving movement for restoring said transferrer to its fasten ing receiving position.

12. A machine of the class described, having, in combination, a raceway, an and, and a driver, a reciprocating transferrer arranged to transfer a fastening from said 'aceway into position to be driven by said driver, yielding means tending normally to move said transferrer in its fastening delivering direction and adjustable means operating in timed relation to the movement of said and for restoring said transferrer to its fastening receiving position.

In testimony whereof we have signed our 15 names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

VILLIAH PRATT. GERALD PEGG.

Vitnesses ARTHUR ERNEST JERRAN, KATHERINE PEX'roN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. C. 

